Dark Paradise
by kalynalexis
Summary: Traveling on her own for the past year, Peyton has been on a mission. Go North. Get away from the living and the biters. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

"Go to Georgia, they said. There's less biters, they said. Fuck them all," Peyton grumbled hoisting her backpack over her shoulder. The heat was killing her. A Northern girl in the south was not a good combination. She had lived in the southern part of the states for almost four years now and she had yet to adjust to the heat.

For being on her own she thought that she was doing okay, she was hungry but not starving. She had a gun but was running low on ammo. The hunting knife she picked off of a biter, having bashed the poor suckers head in with a rock.

She was beginning to get desperate, it'd been weeks since she saw another human. One that was alive. Her fear over mankind grew while biters bothered her less.

Walking in the woods, Peyton kept an eye on the road. It was her way of knowing that she wasn't getting lost.

"Next bar I see I'm gunna go there and have me a stiff one," Peyton had gotten into the habit of talking to herself, it was nice to hear some kind of voice that wasn't a groan.

The highway stayed in her sight as she continued to walk in the woods. Her feet felt like they were going to give out on her.

The familiar groans of biters snuck up on her. Turning around she saw not a few that she knew she could kill but instead a massive herd. Dozens, if not hundreds were coming her way.

Adrenaline kicked in, her feet no longer hurt as she pushed herself to run.

The weight of the bag on her shoulders felt like it was slowly her down. In front of her she spotted several coming towards her.

 _How the hell did I get stuck in between this?_

Groans kept getting louder, the only way to escape was up. All the trees around her had branches that were too high to jump too.

Running away from the herd behind her she brought out her knife stabbing the biter closest to her, right in the ear, there wasn't much protecting the brain there.

A tree with a low hanging branch was off to her left. Making a dash for it she jumped, her hands scraped against the bark. Hoisting herself up Peyton continued to climb. She didn't feel safe enough to stay on the lower branches.

Groans of biters clawing at the tree startled her, they had seen her. _I will not get eaten. Not today._

It was sturdy enough to hold her weight, but one slip or move and she would plummet into the hoard the scratched at the base of the tree. Hugging the tree, Peyton rested her forehead against the trunk, scratching her skin.

"Sweet baby Jesus how the hell did I get here?" Peyton's sarcasm was thick, "Ain't like your listening, huh big guy." Peyton found herself chuckling, born and raised Catholic she had feared death, afraid that she would be sent to Hell. This world now, it was hell.

Hours had passed, but some of the biters had stayed persistent. Scratching at the tree. She wanted to jump down from the tree and kill all of them. The jump though would at minimum would sprain her ankle.

Before the world had gone to shit Peyton was studying for her Nursing degree. Only had a few weeks left before graduation. She had been working a night shift when she saw her first biter. It had scared her, seeing a person who hadn't walked in years get up on their feet and shuffled towards you.

Peyton had been a coward. It was the first thing she thought of when the man was walking to her, her fear had only been confirmed when the old man bite her coworker's neck. It freaked her out. She had been a coward and ran.

It had been her cowardness that potentially saved her life. It had been her need to survive that got her the hell out of Florida.

Night fall quickly came and soon the sun began to rise. Her arms and legs were shaking from grasping the tree so tight, her thighs were on fire from supporting her body weight. Peyton wanted to sleep, eat, and take a shower. Today she could accomplish one of the three.

Climbing down the tree she stood on the last branch, looking, hearing, for any signs of biters. It had gotten quiet after that herd passed through. Almost too quiet, she was expecting there to have been some stragglers, waiting for her to make her descent down the tree.

Nothing.

Looking around once more before she jumped Peyton was positive that there weren't any biters nearby.

Peyton was well past the point of exhaustion, taking the hunting knife out for one hand and her gun in the other, she kept them ready for something that would be around the corner. There was something always around the corner.

The road was still in her eyesight, she wasn't a tracker like her brother was, he had tried so many times before she left the secluded Midwest but she never was able to pick it up.

"Let's go Pey, keep your ass movin'," She muttered, maybe she was going insane. Months of seclusion from other people could do that to a person.

The leaves were making too much noise, not wanting to draw attention to herself she reluctantly headed to the road. Less noise, but much more exposure to the enemies.

She had lost track of how long she had been walking on the road, the watch on her wrist had died long ago. That's when she heard it, the roar of an engine.

Looking back she spotted a green SUV, if she could see it then they could see her. Maybe they'd mistaken her for a biter, keep on driving. Not taking a chance she ducked behind a car, keeping her gun and knife in hand. She did not want to die today. Not yet. It was not her time to go.

"Lower yer weapons," The voice startled her, she dropped her knife out of fear, "Turn 'round," She did as the voice instructed. A crossbow was pointed at her face.

" _How many walkers have y' killed?"_

 _Peyton's eyebrows furrowed at the question. What the hell, she thought, "Why do ya care?" She demanded, her gun and knife laid on the ground in front of her. Defenseless she looked at the man with the crossbow._

" _If ya think I've kept count for over a year, you're mad."_

 _The crossbow lowered a bit, Peyton had finally gotten a good look at the man. He was extremely dirty, like he hadn't had a bath since the beginning of the apocalypse._

" _How many people y' killed?"_

 _Peyton thought back to her friends and the group she was with a few months ago. She remembered how sick she felt when she was about to pull the trigger, then after it was done she didn't feel sick, she felt thrilled. Killing people that she knew gave her a twisted feeling of enjoyment._

 _In the past two months she hadn't seen a single person after her encounter with that mad man. He had stripped her of everything she had owned, Peyton was avid to stay away from the living._

" _Five."_

" _Why?" His crossbow had raised back up, hearing the news must have made the man on edge._

" _They were bit. A couple of them biters came through camp in the beginning. Two friends begged for me to kill them, who wants to turn into the undead. The other three - they were bit later on. Did the same for them," Peyton didn't break eye contact with him, "Why do you care? Will it make your conscience feel better after you put that bolt through my head?"_

 _It felt like an eternity as she waited for death to come. It never did._

 _He lowered his crossbow instead, "Got a camp not far from here."_

" _I don't need a camp. I'm going up north."_

 _A voice from behind her startled her, "Why? It's cold up there."_

 _Peyton huffed knowing everyone had thought the same. It was cold, but to her it was safety, "How many people do you think are trying to survive a Wisconsin or Minnesota winter?" She turned to see the man behind her, he looked Asian—maybe Chinese, "If there's not a lot of people, then there's not a lot of biters."_

"Come to our camp, recharge. We'll give you supplies and you can be on your way," Peyton shook her head, she did not like the sound of that.

So many things could go wrong. What if it was a trap?

He continued despite her protest, "You look like you're gunna keel over soon, we gotta look out for each other now that the undead are walking."

Every instinct she had flowing through her body, it was telling her not to go with them. Peyton wanted to stop running, even if were just for a day. A warm meal, not constantly watching over her shoulder, and some half decent company. It wouldn't be all bad.

"Alright. Just to recharge. I need to keep heading up north, I need to get there before winter hits."

The Asian held out his hand, Peyton accepted getting help up, "I'm Glenn."

He shook her hand, "I'm Peyton Blake."


	2. Chapter 2

To find out that she wasn't very far from their campsite relieved her. Peyton was exhausted, she'd been up for over twenty four hours already. The run in with that herd had her on edge. Peyton wanted to sleep.

She sat in the back of the green SUV staying quiet. The two men were talking quietly about a man named Rick.

Peyton shut her curiosity down, wanting to ask them questions about Rick. She wanted to know everything about them.

Her concentration was broken when Glenn looked back at her from the passenger seat, "So Peyton. What'd you do before all this?"

"I was a nurse at Golden Hills Living, was a few weeks away from getting my Bachelors in Nursing," Peyton explained, her fingers played with a thread that frayed from her shirt.

She just felt dirty, her jeans that were once blue were now covered in so much dirt and blood she couldn't see the blue material anymore. Her plain white shirt had sweat stains, blood, and dirt covering it. She didn't even want to think about her sports bra and underwear, how dirty they were.

When they would arrive at Glenn's camp she would shower, sleep, and do whatever she could to pay the group back. Then she would be on her merry way to Wisconsin.

"That's cool. We could also use a nurse, we have a doctor too. He used to be a vet though," Glenn seemed like a happy free spirited guy to her. He was just rattling off bits of information, "Oh we're here."

Peyton looked out the window. A prison. They secured a prison and made it their home. She was shocked by the view.

There were actually people walking outside. Not seeming to have a care about the biters that were scraping against the fence.

Stepping out of the vehicle Peyton followed Glenn, he was introducing her to people left and right. There was no way she was going to remember them, she didn't want to remember them. Everyone would die and turn eventually. As much as she wanted to talk to people and get to know them, she had a plan that she had to stick to.

Not saying much as she was introduced to the several people, Glenn introduced her to Rick. She got the impression he was the leader of the prison's group, but from the way she saw the group react to Daryl she had a feeling that he might be the leader or his right hand man.

She watched for a moment as an old man gave directions to Rick. Rick only nodded in her direction, not saying another word.

Glenn tugged on Peyton's arm, signaling it was time for them to leave. Peyton gave a last look at Rick as he planted seeds, "It was nice to meet you, Rick," She stumbled her words out, almost stuttering. Knowing that their first meeting was in shambles she adjusted her bag following the Asian.

The prison was dark, her hand went instinctively to her knife. She didn't know if this place was really safe, there could be biters around any corner. Peyton tried to recall from all the movies she watched about prisons, they were complicated, like a maze.

"It's safe here, we cleared the building of walkers when we first got here," Glenn reassured her, he showed her to the shower room, "That was months ago."

He explained where the towels and soap were, but he also gave the news that there was only cold water. Peyton didn't care. A shower was a shower to her. It'd be months since she had been able to properly wash herself. She looked dirty than the cross bow man.

"Glenn, who was the man that had the crossbow? Is he your leader?"

"That's Daryl, he isn't the leader. There's a group of us that run the prison."

Satisfied with his answer she smiled softly and thanked him before he left. Tossing her bag to the ground she gathered everything that she would need before she stripped and bathed in the cold water.

Taking probably too long in the shower it had been the cleanest she had felt in months. Her pale skin could be seen once again, there wasn't any dirty covering her body.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Peyton could see the wear and tear on her body. Her once flawless skin now had scars and signs of premature aging. She was no longer an innocent women. Her wide eyes that were once a bright hazel had now dulled. Taking a good hard look at herself she knew she wasn't the same person a year ago before all of this happened.

Before the end of times she would have done everything in her power to save a life. Now she had killed people, they couldn't have been saved. In her mind, she thought that she was giving the world less biters to fight off. She was also putting those people out of their misery. When the time came she hoped that if she couldn't take her life that someone would just shoot her in the brain.

Peyton got dressed in her cleanest outfit, a pair of dark jeans that she had picked up while going through someone's car, a plain white shirt that would be covered in blood once she set out on her own again, and a bra that she swiped from a Goodwill in Florida.

It was times like this that she wished she was born a man. They didn't have to worry about finding bras or tampons now. Peyton hadn't gotten her period in a few months probably from malnutrition but it was nice to not worry about how she was going to stop the blood from running down her leg. Biters could smell it, made her a better target.

Strapping her knife back into its holster, she secured it to her side. She had done the same with her gun. When Peyton saw Glenn again she would ask what she'd need to do if she wanted to get some extra ammunition. If they wouldn't give her any, she would ask where a good place to look would be. Maybe there was a Cabela's or Gander Mountain nearby. She planned on how she could get through the large group of biters that might be in there. There was always to option of covering herself in biter juice.

Carefully making her way out of the shower room, her bag was back on her shoulders. Attempting to remember the way towards the outside of the prison she found herself wandering. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her footsteps.

Instead of making her way to the outside of the prison she was venturing further into the confusing maze of the building. She wandered for a while not wanting the panic to set in. Peyton was unfamiliar with this place, she didn't know where to hide in case of a group of biters came along. This wasn't the outside, she could climb trees as much as she wanted to escape those bastards. Here though, she was an easy target.

"Knives are very important. They will save your life, always try to kill a walker with a knife before shooting them. Guns are loud. They draw in the attention of more walkers…"

Peyton heard the voice traveling from down a hallway. Following it she thought that she'd be close to the outside. Not being greeted by the blinding light from the sun she walked into a library. Children sat in a half circle around a woman who was showing them how to properly hold a knife.

Keeping quiet as the older woman stopped her, the lesson was soon wrapped up when Peyton's presence was known.

"That's all we have for this week kids, remember to aim for the brain."

The children began to file out of the room, there weren't many only a few of them.

"Haven't seen you before, I'm Carol."

Carol was putting away the knives, tucking them in between the books, "So who brought you in?"

This woman got right to the point, Peyton liked that, "Glenn did. Well Daryl did too, I'm Peyton."

"Ah the nurse, Glenn told me about you."

She shook her head, "I'm not a nurse anymore, haven't done anything except stitches in weeks." Peyton tried to play herself down, this group they didn't need her. She needed to go up north, there was where she was needed.

"It's good to have another medical person. Might be one of the most prized occupations to have during this time."

Peyton adjusted the bag on her back, it began to feel heavier the longer this conversation went on, "Sorry Carol, but I'm trying to get up north to Wisconsin. It's much safer there."

Carol laughed at the young woman's comment, "How could it be safer there? Seems like it'd be more dangerous. Having to battle the cold, walkers, and get food."

This was turning out to be like all the other conversations she had with people when she mentioned that she wanted to go north. They all said it was dangerous and a stupid idea. Peyton learned to shake them off. She knew it would pay off in the long run. She just assumed that most people would have fled from those states going to somewhere warm. In her mind it meant less biters. Peyton knew how to garden and preserve food for winter.

"I've gotten that a lot. I'm still gonna head there."

"Seems fair. I'll show you to where you're gunna sleep."

Peyton followed Carol, they passed a large painted sign 'Cell Block C' but they continued on until they got to Cell Block D. She was surprised by how many people were here. The prison was a community, there had to be at least a hundred people that she had seen already.

"Ain't much, but it's a bed to rest your head for a few hours."

Carol gave her directions how to get to the eating area outside for when she woke up. They said their goodbyes and Peyton went into the prison cell moving the sheet aside that covered the entrance. To her surprise it was empty, but there was a blanket and pillow waiting for her on the bed.

The prison wasn't a bad set up, it seemed secure. If she wasn't so adamant about leaving it would have been a nice place to permanently stay. Her bag right next to the bed, she took out a picture of a little boy staring before she drifted off to sleep with her knife in her free hand.


End file.
